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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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Richard J. Brennan% t) J- F5 `6 H: H2 n+ |3 K
National Affairs Writer 7 h/ ~% F. Z* I- ^
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Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed Wednesday that as many as 1,800 new Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they were obtained fraudulently.
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* r% W* c7 J) l% j8 T“We are in the process of notifying them that we will be revoking their citizenship because Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” Kenney told the Economic Club of Canada.
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% _: D+ D; L+ mKenney said some of the individuals are believed to have used “unscrupulous” immigration consultants who submitted fraudulent applications on behalf of people who did not meet the qualifications for citizenship.
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The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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5 b# }2 Y2 g1 S% V" a! O“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.
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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.
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% ~1 u" D6 M# V$ }; e7 H& q0 B ?Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.9 H! y4 w: z$ @ d, a3 @# `6 N
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.7 M+ `6 e/ ?: Q& L# _' G( q" H/ A' }
6 N3 U, E! P# a6 v5 k“For those who simply touch down and try to get a Canadian passport as a … passport of convenience, who don’t pay our taxes but who do consume our social benefits, I think that’s dishonourable,” he told reporters after delivering a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.3 a1 ?8 z% G$ Y1 K9 L" X* n( A
8 g- _( i$ B8 X, y1 m“There are many ways that we are combating immigration fraud and abuse of our generosity, whether it is from [bogus] asylum claimants, crooked immigration consultants, people smugglers [or] people who are abusing our citizenship program,” he said.
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e# i/ n- B& ^) p3 QKenney also announced that Canada will soon be introducing multi-year visas for low-risk visitors from around the world that will last 10 years. |
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